Warning: lots of photos. Arnold Odermatt joined a Swiss police force in 1948 after being forced to give
up his original career as a baker and pastry chef for health reasons. As a policeman Arnold Odermatt first appeared with his camera at the scene of an accident to take photos to complement
police reports, people found this odd. At that time,
photography was anything other than an independent means of providing
the police with evidence. A colleague once observed Arnold Odermatt as he took pictures for the
force and was suspicious. He was ordered to report to his commander
immediately. Odermatt managed to convince his superiors of the quality of the work he was doing. They allowed him to convert an old toilet
in an observation post into a makeshift dark room. When the
observation post was moved into another building several years later, he was finally given his own laboratory. To me his work is somewhat haunting, knowing that these photos were taken totally for the purpose of court use. He has put out a few books of his work, some strictly landscape, but alot of his work has the cars. My birthday is Thursday, I know what is going to be on my coffee table after then. Enjoy.